There is no better four-color icon than Wonder Woman to lead the way into a new era of inclusiveness as comic books and superheroes seize an ever-greater share of the pop imagination.

Long considered one of DC Comics’ “holy trinity” of heroes, along with Superman and Batman, Diana of Themyscira’s mass-media cachet has faded somewhat in recent decades, particularly as her male cohorts have scored big hits at the box office. But, with Wonder Woman finally — FINALLY — set to make her big-screen debut in 2016′s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” it’s once again the Amazon warrior’s moment to shine.

The resurgence includes a digital-first run of DC’s Sensation Comics — a title that hearkens back to Wonder Woman’s first appearances in the 1940s — featuring stories by different artists and writers outside of the publisher’s current “New 52″ continuity. Cat Staggs and Amanda Deibert, an artist-writer duo married for nearly three years, took on the third story in the anthology, which will be released digitally Thursday on DC’s app, Amazon’s Kindle store, comiXology and Apple’s iBooks, among other outlets. (This article features online exclusive images of Staggs’s art. Their story ran in the print edition of Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman No. 1.)

In Staggs and Deibert’s installment, Wonder Woman not only battles longtime nemesis Circe but also, in a sweet-natured twist ending, preconceived notions about liking “girl stuff.” One of the big reasons Deibert did the story, she said, was that she — an aunt and an expectant mother — wants kids to feel all right with being themselves. Staggs and Deibert’s first child is due in January.

“Part of it is I want to be part of helping to create a world that is the kind of world that I want my niece and nephew and kids to grow up in,” Deibert told Speakeasy in an exclusive telephone interview. “The other reason is I think that Wonder Woman, in essence, stands for, of course, truth, and I feel like the idea of being true to yourself and things being OK, no matter what we’re being told by society.”

Staggs, who grew up a “Lynda Carter kid” as a fan of the Wonder Woman TV show from the 1970s, and Deibert, a big fan of Gail Simone’s run on the character last decade, also talked to Speakeasy about women in comics, what it means to do a Wonder Woman story, and how they feel about Marvel Comics‘ decision to make Thora woman, among other topics. An edited version of the interview follows:

On the representation of women in comic-book and pop culture:

Cat Staggs: I feel like there’s this weird thing happening where people think women just showed up, like we haven’t been here the whole time.

Amanda Deibert: To go with what Cat’s saying, women have been here all along, but for some reason we’re still massively unrepresented. For me it doesn’t make sense. I mean, you see films with female leads doing well at the box office and it still translates somehow into “chick flicks don’t make money.” … I don’t understand the false logic being given. I think that every medium could use more, comic books included.

Deibert: I feel like we were very lucky, in working on Sensation in particular, that there are a lot of women working on staff in this particular run. … For a comic book, it’s pretty unusual for a majority of our team to be female. … I didn’t think about what an anomaly it was until we were almost done, and I turned to Cat and I said, “Oh my God, there’s a lot of women working on this!” … It should be like, oh, sometimes there’s a lot of women working on a book, sometimes there’s a mix.

On Wonder Woman finally hitting the big screen:

Staggs: When I was sitting at my table at [San Diego] Comic-Con, I could hear the rumble in Hall H through the wall, and then I checked my Twitter feed, and they had just showed the costume in the room. I remember sitting at my table, and finally someone showed a picture of it, and I got weepy. I got so excited. It was kind of an overwhelming and kind of a shocking feeling. I didn’t expect that to happen.

Deibert: I don’t like to cast a judgment until I’ve seen somebody because I’ve been surprised so many times. You think somebody’s weird for a part, and then Heath Ledger kills it as Joker, and you’re like, ‘OK, nevermind’ because it’s amazing. I will know what I think about her as Wonder Woman when I see her as Wonder Woman.

Staggs: I agree.

On the message of their Wonder Woman story for Sensation Comics:

Deibert: Here’s the truth of the situation: There’s nothing wrong with being who you are. There’s nothing wrong with liking the things you want to like and standing up for yourself and being comfortable with yourself, or there’s nothing wrong with women and girls and the things that they like and them being powerful. I wanted to tell a story that really reflected how I see Wonder Woman, and I felt that using that kind of twist at the end did that.

On drawing Wonder Woman:

Staggs: I don’t necessarily go in with an agenda, but I tend to — I’ve always imagined superheroes as athletes. I tend to draw them for what I would feel is the corresponding athletic type. I feel Wonder Woman and Superman are pretty similar in type. For instance, I would picture Batman as more of a linebacker type of guy: short, stocky and big. Superman and Wonder Woman are both tall and lean. I wanted to show [WW's] physical power as well as her inner power that she expresses, but I also don’t want her to look like a linebacker, either. I hope I conveyed that. I take a lot of pride in trying to convey them in certain ways, and I hope it comes off that way.

On whether Wonder Woman’s final line to villain Circe is a callback to creator William Moulton Marston’s bondage-heavy early comics:

Deibert: That’s my little wink and a nod to Marston, but because this is definitely aimed in a more kid-friendly direction, it’s just a wink. (Both laugh.)

Amanda Deibert

Courtesy of Amanda Deibert

On Wonder Woman’s staying power:

Deibert: She’s adapted while staying essentially the same. She’s always about feminine power, female power and equality and truth. But each generation’s version of that wherever we are in society is kind of what she’s represented there. I think that’s amazing she’s been able to grow with us, and that you can literally look at each incarnation of Wonder Woman and look at all sorts of progress of female equality in America.

On Marvel making Thor a woman:

Staggs: I have no problem with it.

Deibert: I think it’s kind of fun. I know there’s an argument, ‘Why not create unique individual characters?’ But I think there’s always these — over time, these different kinds of characters, they constantly change, they constantly get reinvented –

Deibert: Thor was a frog at one point. (Laughs.) So, I think people who would get upset about it — I don’t know. I don’t think that they need to worry that they’re never going to have their beloved, classic male Thor. And I think it’s kind of fun to have big, iconic characters that are female because there’s Wonder Woman, who I’d say is up there with iconic characters. But she’s kind of alone when you get to characters of that caliber. Of course, there are plenty of female superheroes, but I’m talking about huge, iconic, everybody-knows-who-they-are characters. People like my grandparents know who they are.

Staggs: I always thought it’s probably just temporary. I mean, it has to be temporary, right?

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.